studies and planning and has recently moved to Cobar to take on the mine’s GM role. ▪ Photo contributed
Endeavor Mine General Manager Matt Gill sat down with The Cobar Weekly last week to outline the plans for the mine’s imminent re-start.
Mr Gill said since Polymetals “received the keys” to the Endeavor Mine site on August 1, they have been bringing the mine out of care and maintenance mode and preparing the site for production.
Mr Gill said they have conducted safety reviews, a structural audit, an electrical audit and have begun recruiting.
“At the minute there are 14 of us. This time next year there will be 230 staff,” Mr Gill said.
“Between now and then we will spend about $30 million to get it up and ready—so recruitment, people, housing (and all of the work behind that), mobile equipment etc are being sorted with the plan to get silver and lead concentrate on to a train and out of here in May next year.”
Mr Gill has over 40 years experience as a mining engineer and has worked in mines all around the world including Papua New Guinea, India, Ghana, Bolivia, Alaska and Australia, including at the CSA Mine. (Mr Gill said his first paid job out of Uni was with a pelican pick on CSA’s 6th Level cleaning up under the conveyor back in 1979.)
He’s recently moved with his partner to Cobar from the Gold Coast.
“Part of our commitment is to be in the community and to being local,” he said.
“I have six department heads (one position is yet to be filled) but, other than one person, they are all local. One moved from Dawin and he’s taken up residence here and three were already in town. We’ve got one more senior department position to go and, all things being equal, if two people have exactly the same skills, we’ll take a Cobar-based one any day or, if not Cobar-based, we’ll take the person prepared to move here,” Mr Gill said.
“Our preference is local and there will be a big push for our workforce to be on a continuous roster as in any mine.
“And we expect a large proportion will probably drive in from elsewhere.
“Hopefully a small portion only will fly, but often technical staff are a bit hard to get into a mine site but we offer free housing to attract them.”
Mr Gill said housing is proving to be a challenge as Polymetals didn’t get ownership of the Endeavor housing stock in their sale agreement with CBH.
“But we have first right and access to them and so have an arrangement. We have a team of six going to 15 of the vacant houses doing them up—gardening, gutters, kitchens, etc.
“Those 15 homes have all been vacant but by Christmas they will look better and hopefully have people in them.
“There’s a bunch of houses that are tenanted and we’ll work our way through those.
“There are also three blocks of units.”
Mr Gill said they still won’t have enough beds for 230 people and will be looking at establishing an onsite mine camp which will help address their legal and moral responsibility to manage fatigue.
Mr Gill has had preliminary discussions about a mine camp with the State Member’s office and with council and also plans to engage with the community to get their views.
“Housing in town and camp approval is essential otherwise we can’t do it properly on half a workforce,” Mr Gill said.
“When we are in operation we will be spending something like $40 million per annum in goods and services and salaries and our initial mine life is 10 years.”
